The Last of the Age of Heros
by Treesquirrel15
Summary: Something has gone wrong, very wrong, and Mace Windu has to figure out where he--and his crew--are, and what is going on, before it is to late. But, time is running out, and doing so faster than he can possibly imagine...


**The Last of the Age of Heroes**

By Treesquirrel15

**Rating:** PG

**Summery: **Something has gone wrong, very wrong, and Mace Windu has to figure out where he--and his crew--are, and what is going on, before it is to late. But, time is running out, and doing so faster than he can possibly imagine...

**Warnings: **Ummm.... that right now this is only a vague plot-idea? _

**Disclaimer****:** I own nothing. If I did, Matthew Stover and Guillermo del Toro would have been in charge of the episode three, Jar-Jar would have been run over by a (mysteriously appearing) sandcrawler, and the world would have been good. ^_^ Unfortunately, George Lucas owns not only Star wars but my soul as well. *sight*

**Teaser/Prologue**

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"Captain, report!"

Despite the screeching of the alarms in his ears and the shouts and screams coming from the deck below, Mace Windu remained admirably calm and collected. At least, he appeared so from the outside.

On the inside, however, Mace felt himself to be but a hairs-breath from having his carefully constructed Jedi self-control snap. The sudden surge of energy that his ship had become entrapped within moments before had vanished, but not before further destroying the vessel's already damaged systems. He could only hope that none of the decks had been breached; with the internal sensors non-operational and much of the standard systems offline such a breach could go undetected for quite some time. If that were the case, the results would be disastrous.

"Sir"

Mace glanced up, his thoughts hidden behind his eyes. The Captain was standing in front of him; the subtle movements of the young Twi'leki woman's lekku betraying her agitation.

"Sir," she repeated, continuing upon his acknowledging nod. "Whatever that was, it did a significant amount of damage. Almost all main systems- and several secondary systems -are down, including sub-light and hyperdrive engines… and life support. External sensors, some communications, and backup life support systems are still operational, though external sensors are only at 33% capacity, and the aft sensor array was completely destroyed earlier…"

The Captain's report was interrupted, however, by the screeching of new alarms.

"Sirs, an unknown vessel just dropped out of hyperspace off our port bow!"

The ensign's shout brought the Captain and Jedi quickly to his side.

"Any way of identifying it?"

"Not as of yet Sir, the computer doesn't recognize the make. But it will be within visual range now Sir…."

"By the Force!"

Windu found himself agreeing with the Captain's exclamation. The ship that had appeared in their forward viewport was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He noted at the corner of his mind the hush that had fallen over the bridge at the sight of this new vessel. It seemed as though the entire bridge crew was holding their breaths; the Force around him hummed with apprehension.

The ship in front of them was huge; probably at least kilometer in length. It's sharp, wedge shaped form cut through space with a terrifying speed. Mace Windu felt a sliver of unease chase it's self briefly down his spine. This ship moved _fast_, much faster than he had ever seen a ship of its size move. The speed, coupled with the fact that it literally bristled with turbo laser and ion-cannon batteries throughout the trench that bisected it marked it clearly for what it was; a warship, and a powerful one at that.

**_That's like no Republic ship I've ever seen. I have a bad feeling about this._**

"Master Jedi" the communications officer called out, his voiced admirably free from fear at the sight of this new ship. "They are hailing us Sir." Mace glanced at the captain.

"Patch it through."

He could see now, as the ship pulled closer, the markings that he had not been able to see before. The ship did not bear the black starburst-inside-a-circle symbol of the Republic—something that he had been desperately hoping for in the back of his mind. Instead, this ship proudly displayed two great bird-like shapes, painted in bloody red and situated on either side of the wedge's midline. Their great beaks pointing inward and upward towards what appeared to be the command tower situated high on the rear of the craft. Mace Windu knew of no organization- in the Republic or out- that used such a symbol. His feelings of unease, of the _wrongness_ of this situation, increased exponentially.

"_Unidentified ship, this is the New Republic Star Destroyer _Deliverance,_ we received a distress call from your region. Do you require assistance?"_

**_New_ Republic?** Mace Windu wondered **What...?**

As his damaged ship drifted broken through space, its crew looking to him for guidance, the Jedi master could think only one thing, one thought that was echoed in increasing intensity by the Force around him. Something was not as it should be. Something was very, very wrong.

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Meh… should I continue? Read and Review! ^_^


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